Lock-up bar assembly



Feb- 18, 1958 D. D. vANDERcooK Ax. 2,823,608

LOCK-UP ASSEMBLY Filed oct. 5, 1955 2 sheets-snee: 1 I? QJ ,f2

Y ilmll Vv Willil LZEZZZ-E Feb. 18, 1958 D. D. vANDl-:RcooK Er AL 2,823,608

LOCK-UP ASSEMBLY Filed Oct. 5, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I' mi awww 2 &3/ (27 k-"z United States Patent LOCK-UP BAR ASSEMBLY David D. Vandercook, Evanston, and Garret D. Robar, Northbrook, Ill., assignors to Vandercook & Sons, Inc., Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application October 5, 1955, Serial No. 538,630

6 Claims. (Cl. 101-390) This invention relates to a lock-up bar assembly and more particularly to a lock-up bar assembly especially adapted for locking printing forms in position in a printing press bed.

The assembly of this invention is particularly designed to engage between the side rails of a printing press bed and press a printing form or forms against a stop shoulder in the press bed. To insure against any movement of the printing form, it is desirable to exert considerable force against the form and since the assembly is retained in position through frictional engagement with the side rails, it is necessary to exert considerable force against such side rails. It is further very desirable that the assembly be readily positioned and actuated to exert the required force against the printing form.

An object of this invention, accordingly, is to provide a lock-up bar assembly which is readily positioned and actuated and which will exert considerable force against an object such as a printing form.

According to this invention, a plate is arranged to engage one f the side rails of the press bed, a shoe is associated with the plate and is arranged to engage the other side rail, a baris associated with the plate and arranged to engage a printing form in the press bed, means are provided for acting between the shoe and plate for urging the plate and shoe into pressure engagement with the side rails of the bed, and means acting between the bar and the plate are arranged to urge the bar into pressure engagement with the printing form.

It has been proposed to use springs or other resiliently compressible means between the pressure bar and the plate with such means being compressed when the assembly is pushed against the form, the plate and shoe being then pressedagainst the side rails to lock the assembly in position. However, in such an arrangement the force that can be exerted against the form is limited to the force that can be exerted by the operator.. Further, it is diicult to obtain uniform and reliable operation. In the assembly of this invention, the means acting between the pressure bar and the plate are actuatable after the shoe and plate are engaged with the side rails so that a controlled amount of force up to a large value can be readily exerted against the form.

In accordance with a further feature of the invention, a single manually actuatable member isv arranged for both urging the shoe and plate into engagement with the side rails and urging the pressure bar into engagement with the printing form. Such member is preferably arranged so that in the initial portion of its movement, the shoe and plate are urged into engagement with the side rails and in the final portion of its movement the pressure bar is urged into engagement with the printing form. With such an arrangement, the assembly can be positioned in the press bed with the pressure bar in light engagement with the printing form, and the manually actuatable member can then act to first engage the plate and shoe the desiredaniountof force on the printing form.

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In order to prevent slippage relative to the siderails,`

the forces exerted between the plate and shoe and the side rails should be increased when increased force is applied to the pressure bar.

In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the actuating mechanism is such that the forces exerted by the shoe and plate on the side rails are automatically increased as increased force is applied to the pressure bar.

Another feature of the invention is in the use of resilient means in the mechanism urging the plate and shoe into engagement with the side rails. With the provision of such means, the optimum relation between the forces exerted against the side rails and the force exerted against the printing form can be more readily obtained using a single actuating member, irrespective of variations in the distance between the side rails and variations in other factors. Also, the mechanism can be more smoothly and readily actuated.

A further feature of the invention is in the use of an eccentric cam journalled by the plate for actuating both the shoe and the pressure bar. This is highly advantageous not only in simplicity and ease of construction but also in obtaining an operation in which forces are exerted against the side rails before the force is exerted against the printing form and also in automatically increasing the forces applied against the side rails as the force applied to the pressure bar is increased.

Still another feature of the invention resides in the particular manner in which the device is designed so that the parts can be readily constructed and assembled, with the device being rugged, reliable and trouble-free in operation.

Other objects, features and advantages will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment and in which:

Figure l is a plan view of a lock-up bar assembly constructed according to the principles of this invention disposed in operative position in the bed of a printing press;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along line II--Il of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line III-III of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along line lV-IV of Figure 1; and

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken substantially along line V-V of Figure 2 but illustrating the parts in force applying positions.

Reference numeral 10 generally designates a lock-up bar assembly constructed according to the principles of this invention. The assembly 10 is disposed in the bed 11 of a printing press between side rails 12 and 13 and is arranged to press a printing form 14 against a stop shoulder 14a in the press bed.

The assembly 10 comprises a generally L-shaped plate 15 having a leg 16 extending transversely relative to the press bed 11 and a leg 17 arranged to engage the inwardly facing surface of the rail 12. An extension blockv or shoe 18 is connected to the end of the leg 16 of the plate 15 and is arranged to engage the inwardly facing surface of the opposite rail 13, A pressure bar 19 extending transversely relative to the press bed 11 is arranged to engage the printing form 14. To operate the assembly 10, a lever 20 is journalled by the plate 15 for movement about a vertical axis approximately midway between the side rails 12 and 13, a plate 21 being preferably attached to the end of the lever 20 for engagement by the fingers of the operator. g.

In operation, the assembly is moved to a position such Patented F eb. V 18,

as illustrated in Figure l with the plate and shoe 18 in engagement with the side rails 12 and 13 and with the pressure bar 19 in light engagement with the printing form 14, the operating lever 2@ being in a position as illustrated, rotated to substantially a maximum extent in a counter-clockwise direction, this being a pressurereleased position. The lever 249 is then rotated in a clockwise direction and in the initial portion of such movement, the plate 15 and shoe 1S will be pressed firmly into engagement with the side rails 12 and 13. With further clockwise movement of the lever 2Q, the pressure bar 19 will be forced away from the plate 15 into pressure engagement with the printing form 14' to press the form 14 into engagement with the stop shoulder (not shown) of the press. Preferably, the pressure ex erted by the plate 15 and the shoe 18 on the side rails 12 and 13 is automatically increased as the lever 2@ is rotated further in a clockwise direction to increase the pressure applied to the printing form 14.

For actuation of the shoe 18 and pressure bar 19 in response to movement of the lever Ztl, one end of the lever 20 is fitted into a cam device 23, a vertical set screw 24 being provided to lock the lever to the device 23. The device 23 has upper and lower concentric cylindrical portions 25 and 26 separated by a cylindrical cam portion 27 eccentrically related to the portions 25 and 26. In the illustrated arrangement, the cam portion 27 is concentric to the set screw 24 (this being desirable for ease of machining of the device 23) and the cylindrical portions 25 and 26 have an axis at a point 28 in Figure l.

The portions 25 and 26 of the device 23 are preferably journaled in a bushing 29 of a suitable bearing material such as bronze, the bushing 29 being press-*'itted into an opening in the plate 15.

To permit rotation of the lever 2t), the plate 15 has a generally semi-circular recess 39 extending from one edge thereof intermediate the upper and lower edges thereof.

According to a specific feature of the invention, the intermediate cam portion 27 of the device 23 functions to actuate both the shoe 18 and the pressure bar 19. For actuation of the shoe 1S, a cam follower or rider 31 is engaged with the cam portion 27, the rider 31 being journaled in a bore 32 extending from the device 23 to the end of the leg 16 of the plate 15. The rider 31 is cylindrical, except for parallel flat face portions 33 and 34 arranged to fit between the spaced cylindrical portions 25 and 26 of the device 23, and llock the device 15 against axial movement.

The rider 31 is at one end of a plunger 35 movable in-the -bore 32, the other end of the plunger 35 being engaged with a coiled compression spring 36 which, in turn, is engaged with the end of a plunger 37 disposed in the bore 32 and affixed to or integral with the shoe 18.

It will be appreciated that as the lever 20 is moved in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure l, the eccentric cam portion 27 of the device Z3 will force the cam rider 31 to the left to urge the shoe 18 to the left through the compression spring 36, so as to urge the plate 'l5 -and shoe 18 into pressure engagement with the side rails 12 and 13.

To limit movement of the shoe 18 and to prevent rotation thereof about the axis of the bore 32, a screw 33 extends through an opening in the shoe 18 and is threaded into the end of the leg 16 of the plate 15, the opening in the shoe 18 preferably being enlarged to receive the head of the screw 38. A set screw 39 may be provided for locking the screw 38 in an adjusted position.

For actuation of the pressure bar 19, a bar 4t), forming a cam follower or rider engageable with the eccentric cam portion 27, is movable in a rectangular recess 41 in the edge of the plate 15 adjacent the bar 19. The upperv and lower surfaces of the bar 4t) are preferably a1'- ranged to engage between the cylindrical portions 2S and 26 of the device 23 to cooperate with the cam rider 31 in preventing axial `displacement of the device 23.

The cam follower bar 4i) is affixed to the pressure bar 19, preferably through resilient means in the form of a block 42 of rubber or its equivalent. It will be appreciated that as the lever 2t) is rotated in a clockwise direction, -the eccentric cam portion 27 of the device 23 will move the bar 49 to exert pressure on the pressure bar 19 through the block 42 and to press the printing form 14 against the stop shoulder in the press.

To guide and limit movement of the bar 19 relative to the plate 15, a pair of headed screws 43 and 44 extend through openings adjacent the opposite ends of the bar 19 and are threaded into openings in the plate 15.

Figure 5 illustrates the parts in the pressure-applied position of the assembly. From a comparison of lthis ligure with Figure l, illustrating the parts in a pressure released position, it will be noted that during the initial portion of the clockwise movement of the lever 20 from the pressure released position of Figure l, 4the cam rider 31 will move to a substantial extent to apply pressure against the side rails, but there will be very little movement of the cam follower bar 40. After a certain amount of movement of the lever 20, however, there Will be -a substantial movement of the cam follower bar 40 to apply pressure to the printing form 14. Movement of the cam rider 31 always increases with increased movement of the cam follower bar 40, so that the pressure exerted against the side rails 12 and 13 is automatically increased as increased pressure is applied to the printing form 14.

It will be apparent that although the assembly of this invention is particularly advantageous in locking printing forms in the bed of a printing press, the principles of the invention can be applied to any application where it is desired to engage between spaced facing surfaces and exert pressure in a direction generally parallel to such surfaces, and terms such as printing form, press bed, side rails, plate, shoe and pressure bar are hence intended to include equivalent structures.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of this invention.

We claim as our invention:

l. In a lock-up bar assembly for use in locking printing forms in a printing press bed having yside rails, a plate arranged to engage one of the side rails of the bed, a shoe associated with said plate and arranged to engage the other side rail, a bar associated with said plate for movement with respect thereto and arranged to engage a printing form in the bed, means acting between said lplate and shoe for urging said plate and shoe into pres vsure engagement with the side rails of the bed, means acting between said bar and said plate for urging said bar into pressure engagement with the printing form, and a single operating lever for successively operating said means.

2. 'In a lock-up bar assembly for use in locking printing forms in a printing press bed having side rails,` a plate arranged to engage one of the side rails of the bed, a shoe associated with said plate and arranged to engage the other side rail, a bar associated with said plate and arranged to engage a printing form in the bed, and a single manually actuatable member associated with said plate, said shoe and said bar for both urging said shoe and plate into engagement with the side rails and urging ysaid 4pressure bar into engagement with the printing form.

3. In a lockup bar assembly for use in locking printing forms in a printing press bed having side rails, a plate arranged to engage one of the side rails of the bed, a shoe associated with said plate and arranged to engage the other side rail, a bar associated with said platel and arranged to engage a printing form in the bed, and a single manually actuatable member associated with said plate, said shoe and said bar for both urging said shoe-` and .plate into engagement with the side rails and urging said pressure bar into engagement with the printing form, said member being arranged to urge said shoe and plate into engagement with the Side rails in the initial portion of its movement and to thereafter urge said pressure bar into `engagement with the printing form.

4. In a lock-up bar assembly for use in locking printing forms in a printing press bed having side rails, a plate arranged to engage one of the side rails of the bed, a shoe associated with said plate and arranged to engage the other side rail, a bar associated with said plate and guided for movement with respect thereto to engage a printing form in the bed, cam meansacting between Isaid plate and shoe for urging said plate and shoe into pressure `engagement with the side rails of -the bed, cam means acting between said bar and said plate for urging said bar into pressure engagement with the printing form, and a single manually actuatable member for successively actuating both of said carn means.

5. In a lock-up bar assembly for use in 'locking printin-g forms in a printing press bed having side rails, a plate arranged to engage one of the side rails of the bed, a shoe associated with said plate and arranged to engage the other 4side rail, a bar associated -with said plate and guided for movement with respect thereto to engage a printing form in the bed, means acting beQA tween ysaid plate and shoe for urging said plate and shoe into pressure engagement with the side rails of the bed, means acting between said bar and said plate for urging said bar into pressure engagement with the printing form, the forces exerted between said shoe and said plate and the side rails being automatically increased as the force exerted by said pressure bar is increased and a single manually actuatable member for successively operating said means.

6. In a lock-up bar assembly for use in locking printing forms in a .printing press bed having side rails, a plate arranged to engage one of the side rails of the bed, a shoe associated with said plate and arranged to engage the other side rail, a bar associated with said plate and arranged to engage a printing form in the bed, and an eccentric cam journaled by said plate and arranged to urge said shoe and plate into engagement with the side `rails and said bar into pressure engagement with the printing form.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 462,799 Isaacs Nov. 10, 1891 812,914 Bermingham Feb. 20, 1906 1,272,659 Groomes *July 16, 1918 

